A $3600 sale or a waste of time?

Most people are going to tell you to move on. I think that advice is half-right.

Yes, move on. This most likely isn't a sale.

BUT... I'd still follow up. I'm assuming you have the time (what's it take, 5 minutes?) and there's nothing bad that could come of it. Like I said, it's not a sale, so you shouldn't be treating it like one. I come by some of my sales this way... someone isn't ready to pull the trigger but buys two, three weeks down the road. But these are basically free-sales and shouldn't be counted on. So treat this as a 'no' for now.

I'd send an email asking for a simple yes or no. I might call back and ask when he's generally available, and try once a week until it gets really cold. You're generally not going to make the sale and already seem desperate by now, but like I said I've made some sales this way, and the 15 or so minutes it costs you each month is well worth the effort.

Side question: monthly price seems extremely aggressive. Have you done projects like this before? What's included in the cost, and does the prospect know this?

Prospects always lie. Often this takes the form of withholding information. Maybe he's expecting money that hasn't come in yet. He's not going to tell you that, though.

Give it a few days and then send a quick email to check. In the meantime, he might pay. He knows what he agreed to with you.

Welcome to the world of sales, BS'ers and time-wasters. Keep in mind maybe he is busy or like Jason said needs to come up with the cash. I would keep pursuing the prospect, are you a quitter- you don't sound like you are

Thanks for the input guys. I'll follow up again later in the week and see how it goes. Will let you know how it turned out.

There's a fine line between seeming needy... and following up.

I'll be honest, I've been doing service businesses for 13+ years... including copywriting, coaching, marketing advice, etc...

And if there's one thing I can count on, it's that clients will say one thing and do something totally different.

Oh, and one of the worst things I EVER used to do, after sending a proposal and getting someone say "Yes, I want to do it".... is to waste emotional energy on whether or not they will pay or hire me.

Because when you're constantly worrying if people will hire you, it stresses you out, causes unnecessary frustration, and it's just not worth it.

My thoughts these days... once I send a proposal with my best attempt, I let it go and not think about it again.

Because to me, it's not worth spending emotional energy worrying whether someone will pay or hire me or not. Because when that happens, you're giving that person power over you. Don't give them that.

so, send your proposal, have your chat, or whatever... and then let it go and let it be.

sure, you can call or email to follow up, but I'm talking to free yourself emotionally from it.

Do NOT waste emotional energy worrying about it, or stressing out... because it will be a long, long career if you do.

Believe me, I used to... but after about a year of realizing what I was doing, I just stopped worrying. I sent my best proposal, or gave my best presentation on the phone, and gave them the steps to hire me.

If I didn't hear back, I'd email or call again, maybe once, but I'd move on. If i had worried about the 3,000 or so proposals I've sent over the years, I would have gone nuts.

Bottom line, don't appear too needy because that DOES drive prospects away.

Oh, this thread may help you out a lot, it helped me with what Jason Leister wrote...

http://www.warriorforum.com/copywrit...need-read.html

Sometimes aggressive business people get ahead of themselves. They want to move fast and don't always think about the fact they need to pay for all their initiatives. He may have realized he didn't have the cash flow and didn't want to admit it. Give it some time and try again.

Like few other warriors mention I would say what does it take to just follow up via email or a quick call. However, I wouldn't totally depend on it. Just keep it coming!

I believe that this type of concern relates to how well you are doing in business.

- If business is going great, lots of orders are coming in: Then you won't feel the anxiety of possibly losing a Client.

- On the other hand. If business is slow, things are not going too well: You will begin to worry a lot about the idea of losing a potential Client.


When I first started off, getting offline Clients, things were slow.
I would slightly feel that type of anxiety the OP is describing.

I followed up on my clients, but I gave them time.

I would gauge their interest by the way the conversation went, their tone of interest and the urgency of how soon they needed my services.

If they seemed very interested, I would follow up with a call in 1 week, to see how things are going.

If they were somewhat interested, yet unsure, I gave them 2-4 weeks before following up.
...and so forth.


As others have said, often the problem is that the Client is not ready to commit yet. Either they are too busy, things are not yet organized, or they are waiting on expected funds.

These above issues usually happen when you go Looking for your Clients.

These issues have mostly stopped for me, since now I let my Clients Find Me.


Well now, business is going very well for me, so I have stopped following up on any clients at all, regardless of their interest level.

Sometimes I get more orders than I can handle, so there is no reason for me to worry about losing a few clients who weren't very serious anyway.

I still take notes of each client and our discussion, but I don't ever waste time wondering if they will return or not.

As Shawn rightly said, it's not worth wasting your energy worrying over these things. There is nothing much you can do to make a Client decide to come back to you, after the initial discussion.

The most you can do is follow up with a call as a reminder, that can help sometimes;
but don't let the thought of your prospect clients run up and down in your mind.

What would it take to get a handful of leads that you could send his way? Maybe they would prime the pump?

This is a great thread! I honestly think everybody gave great advice. The only thing I would really make you think about OP is to realize that if he just doesn't seem interested, then it is totally fine and you should move on. However, as long as you don't get a complete NO, then you should still pursue the business owner. You never know, he may just be the client you've been waiting for.